Blast reported at British Embassy in Yemen

SAN'A, Yemen â€“ An explosion at the British Embassy in Yemen's capital today shattered windows at the embassy and neighboring buildings, but nobody was injured, witnesses and embassy officials

Friday, October 13th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

SAN'A, Yemen â€“ An explosion at the British Embassy in Yemen's capital today shattered windows at the embassy and neighboring buildings, but nobody was injured, witnesses and embassy officials said.

The explosion came a day after U.S. officials say suicide bombers in a small boat blew a gaping hole in a U.S. warship at a refueling stop in the Aden, Yemen, harbor, about 180 miles southwest of San'a. The blast killed six members of the crew, injured 35 and left 11 missing.

The explosion in San'a just after dawn shattered windows at the three-story embassy as well as a neighboring school and the nearby Dutch Embassy.

Only a Yemeni night guard was on duty at the time, a British Embassy spokeswoman said on condition of anonymity.

"The explosion was close to a generator,'' she said. "We sustained considerable damage to the building itself.''

The explosion shook the entire neighborhood, said Hisham al-Qubati, a secretary at the nearby Yemen Times building.

"I heard a loud explosion at 6:05 a.m. [10:05 p.m., Dallas time Thursday] and rushed over to the embassy. They wouldn't let us in, but I could see shattered windows and the damage to a school next to the embassy,'' al-Qubati said.

A forensics team was trying to determine the cause of the blast, the embassy spokeswoman said.